Strawberry VodkaImage by djwtwo
Another preparation for the end-of-summer barbecue, this time in the drinks department. This is homemade strawberry vodka, which I decided to make after reading about it on David Lebotivz’s blog (apparently, he got the idea from the folks over at Punk Domestics.

The technique is pretty straightforward: fresh strawberries, well-washed, hulled, and cut into pieces (preferably from a place where you’ll get berries with no pesticides, since those will infuse into the vodka, too), then covered with vodka and allowed to macerate until they give up most of their flavor to the alcohol. Strain out the solids, then pass through a coffee filter to get it good and clear, and store in the fridge. Follow the link over to the original blog post for more detailed instructions.

This stuff smells amazing, and tastes pretty darned good, too. I had a nice batch of sour cherries, and am trying the same technique with those. Just mashed ’em with a potato masher, and covered them, pits and all, with vodka in a mason jar.